For those who don't know him, Seth Godin is one of the guru of modern marketing.
Here is one of his speechs on Ted (Ted is an endless brainfood kind of website, go and watch people, you won't regret it) on one of his pet-subjects: Tribes.
The "Tribe" concept is always worth remembering when working on a brief, any brief.
23/04/2010
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Quite interesting and the guy is thinking out of the classical box. I guess that Applemania is a kind of tribe system, pelple having an Iphone feel themselves different from the other ones and have a feeling of appartenance to a group: they exchange tips and softs, show their icon any time and use it as a sign of identity and recognition.
ReplyDeleteThe Apple system is indeed one of the first example to come in mind when talking about Tribes in marketing (and a fine one, too.)
ReplyDeleteBut I think it's much more wide than that, it's not just about trying to create a community around a product. It's also about finding existing communities and asking yourself if your brand of product or whatever can be relevant to their interest. (And of course going in carefully & tactfully.)
Example: you are Converse. You could try to talk to the Doctor Who lovers community (Dr Who is a TV show. Very British, quite famous, & with a dedicated fanbase.)
Why are you relevant to their interest? Because the Doctor used to wear Converse shoes all the time, without it being a product placement (the logo were scratched off). But people still noticed it and it was an important part of a very distinctive look. Taping in this latent interest & conversation and turning it into something bigger could have been a smart move. (Now it's too late, the new Doctor doesn't wear Converse.)
It's just an example, but you can find tones of those, the point being you can't really force yourself into a Tribe, of you will be kicked out faster than you can say "USP". They will talk about you because they want to, because you're somehow relevant to their interests. Making yourself the center of the Tribe as Apple did is obviously the ideal objective, but it's not given to every brand and bare that, being a point of connection in an existing community is also a good place to be in.
Got to know Seth from one of his books ; all marketers are Liars, that I really recommend to anyone looking for basics.
ReplyDeleteHis blog is good source of food for thoughts, short ideas that always raises interesting questions and challenge the status quo
Loved the Apple Idea of including in every iPod packaging 1 or 2 apple stickers. you don't need everyone to follow you; but you can offers to the one that are ready to become your tribe the ability to do it for you.
One of the most interesting idea I will get from this presentation is the charisma / pls miss me theory